Shame on Dottie.
Now that her monster-husband has been convicted, how will the thick veil of denial she has spun for her entire marriage unfold? Was she an accomplice? Of course she was. She was there in the house, and seriously, how much can a person not know about their own household?
Dottie represents that nightmare-ish kind of person I’ve always mistrusted… the haughty, dispassionate, condescending Sunday school teacher type who never seems interested in the truth of things. The church lady. The one who simply shrugs and tells you that the devil will get you if you don’t behave. Even worse, the kind of wife who shrugs at her husband’s behavior and says, “I don’t pry.”
And much, much worse, the kind of person willing to look the other way in the face of abusive behavior to maintain their position in sports royalty, or whatever else is keeping them comfortable.
Dottie's need to preserve her comfy lifestyle was so great, and the inner conflict so overwhelming that it must have been some kind of a conscious decision to just look the other way. Jeers also, for fabricating negative stories about the children. (Abuse victims, even more than well-practiced liars, find it very difficult to look people in the eye.)
Of course, the only choice she had in this case was to play the oblivious card, whether she was or wasn't.
Still, to all the women out there considering siding with an abuser to maintain a comfortable position in marriage, or work, I appeal to your higher sensitivities: "Don't do a Dottie!"
Now that her monster-husband has been convicted, how will the thick veil of denial she has spun for her entire marriage unfold? Was she an accomplice? Of course she was. She was there in the house, and seriously, how much can a person not know about their own household?
Dottie represents that nightmare-ish kind of person I’ve always mistrusted… the haughty, dispassionate, condescending Sunday school teacher type who never seems interested in the truth of things. The church lady. The one who simply shrugs and tells you that the devil will get you if you don’t behave. Even worse, the kind of wife who shrugs at her husband’s behavior and says, “I don’t pry.”
And much, much worse, the kind of person willing to look the other way in the face of abusive behavior to maintain their position in sports royalty, or whatever else is keeping them comfortable.
Dottie's need to preserve her comfy lifestyle was so great, and the inner conflict so overwhelming that it must have been some kind of a conscious decision to just look the other way. Jeers also, for fabricating negative stories about the children. (Abuse victims, even more than well-practiced liars, find it very difficult to look people in the eye.)
Of course, the only choice she had in this case was to play the oblivious card, whether she was or wasn't.
Still, to all the women out there considering siding with an abuser to maintain a comfortable position in marriage, or work, I appeal to your higher sensitivities: "Don't do a Dottie!"
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